[John Bennett]

Thanks John, I’ll give them a look see.

Drifter.
400mm straight up. It had been raining and the light was crap. As is all those shots were at ISO 800 and less then 1/160th z(highest ss, lowest as 1/100th) …handheld.

Losing and extra stop of light (f8) and trying to handhold at appx 560mm and at 1/50th on a 1.3 crop would have been near impossible.

J

[John Bennett]

Very nice Will particularily the first.

J

[John Bennett]

Thanks guys.

John Im planning on picking up a rattle bag in time for this weekend. Couple guys have cautioned me it will scare smaller Bucks away though, and might only draw in the big boys. Sort of a use them if I want a go big or gome home empty morning.

Another has said it will be good to use if I want to get facial and body language reactions out of Bucks after getting a few shots. Meaning if they haven’t

[John Bennett]

Panos haven’t grabbed my interest yet, but I do know some people who enjoy making them. Most by far, use a software program called photomatrix to render them. Figure if that many people use it must be for a reason and thought Id throw the name out there for those here might want to look into it.

[John Bennett]

Grats Andrew.

I’ve been Trophy Buck “hunting” since the end of August. I’ve logged more hours than I care to think about patterning Does, being busted by other “photographers”, and trying to learn all I can about hunting WTs. Kinda like bow hunting but with a camera. With the exception of spike bucks and one distant 8pter I’d been shut out all fall in my quest.

I finally got rewarded myself this weekend with some great images of a 8 or 10 pointer and another nice 6pter. Made me forget the aches and chills of a bad cold Ive been fighting 🙂

I can certianly appreciate why WT hunters get hooked on it. Its a pretty intense feeling when you finally call one in. I know I was stoked when the 8/10pter suddenly appeared after an hour of grunting and using bleats.

J

[John Bennett]

Did actually find a couple photos taken during winter of a friend Spey fishing.

[John Bennett]

What are “serial rights”? What is typical today when it comes to exclusivity and rights for other publications to use?

NAFSRs.
North American First Serial Rights.

Is what the majority of magazines (atleast the hook and bullit) want to purchase. Translated it means they want to purchase the rights to be the First Serial (periodical publication) to publish said article/photo in North America

If the image/article has previoulsy been run you’d better let them know. Most wont buy previoulsy published material but in some cases they do.

[John Bennett]

Simple answer.
Yes RAW “look” dull and flat compared to jpegs.

Short explanation.
Camera manufactorers assume most people who shoot jpeg don’t want to “Post” process. Hence, you can generally make easy presets for your jpgs. +1 contrast, +3 saturation, etc. Even so called “picture” styles are little more than preset adjustements.

To whit.
RAW: its a digital negative, noting is done to them in camera
Jpegs:  A fair amount of stuff, from contrast,saturation,sharpening is done in camera, even at the lowest presets.

[John Bennett]

Thanks again Phil, I figured as much but was curious to know none the less.

[John Bennett]

Nomad, most magazines are fairly standard with regards to logo placement and needing room for block text etc. It took a little a mental shifting on my part to “shoot for covers” but thats essentially whats meant by it.

http://www.americanangler.com

As a general rule of thumb anytime I see something I want to shoot vertical as a potential “cover” candidate I leave or try to leave the upper left quandrat “dead” with room along the the left. Lots of fantastic shots get passed over for simply not having the room or “composition”.

This is the magazine Im doing alot of stuff for. Remember what Phil said about the way stores display on racks with only the “left” showing?
http://www.fishontario.com

Another that I submit to. Its similiar to AA with regards to banner and logo.
http://articles.outdoorcanada.ca/Mochasofa/client/en/homepage/DetailNews.asp?idNews=245848

Thanks Phil for the feedback.
Man I wish I lived somewhere where fly fishing was more popular or we had winter seasons. I’m so envious of you guys, getting guys in snow scapes has long been a goal of mine 🙂

Just out of curiosity Phil.
Might this shots like this work for future reference, meaning sort of ambigous? This particular ones cropped a bit so not sure how it will print at letter and 300 dpi. Would qualify as Fall but theres stil alot fo Green but its not “Fly Fishing”

[John Bennett]

Ive got some nice winter Steelheading (centerpinning) images that would likely fit a cover 🙂 Maybe that Steelhead going ballistic (still alot of green in it, so its not really a good candidate.

Fly fishing though, just Browns. 🙁 Browns nicely showing a fly are fewer.

[John Bennett]

Ontario.
The only thing you can’t fish for on good waters with lots of access is Salt 😉

I’m of the mind that this is a grass is greener thing and that in time we take what we have for granted.

The lure of the west is no doubt strong but will you miss fishing for whatever alternative species live in your neck of the woods?
I know a guys thats moving to Calgary, some of the best river fishing in Canada. He’s upset that he won’t have Bass and Musky close to home anymore.

[John Bennett]

Ah jeez Will. I just meant I think you missed you point 🙂
One reason (but certainly not the only) why I’m not a writer..Conveying thoughts to paper don’t come easily to me.

I have done alot of research on it. One reason is I’m trying to identify magazines that can use my images to make the most of my time and efforts. It takes alot of time and effort to produce certain images..You just don’t walk into a field and get a buck every day, or a great Brown…whatever.

Ive also come to the conclusion that if I’d like to see certain images get used, I need to determine which magazines (of those I want to try and contribute to) haven’t run an article ABC recently.

So that the images in question end up in the hands of a magazine that give me the best chance of seeing them used, rather than sitting in someones library indefinately..waiting for an article (thats needs a good image or two)

[John Bennett]

I agree completely Zach and it makes all the sense in the world and its pretty common.

One thing I’m noting though is that alot of magazines still use or require images that aren’t supplied by the authors. Maybe its that one or two images to go with, whatever..A scan though any number of magazines (photo credits) and you’ll find a good number of images that are Freelance or from Stock agencies.

Obviously the best case scenario is a writer willing to do both and do both well. Even this though requires some sacrifice depending on the subject matter. Again overly simplified but it’s not easy to do both well.
Meaning (greatly over simplified) you cant very well shoot ducks, and call ducks and take pictures of your self at the same time.

Trophy Bucks?
Ask a writer which hed rather do any given Saturday morning.

Carry 30 pounds of camera gear into the bush to “photograph” them and himself…..or his muzzleloader, rifle, bow…

Most unvisersally wil perfer to actually “hunt” the Buck, rather than photograph it.  If oyu get busted trying to photograph the Buck, you might not get another shot at it, that fall.

Trust me somewhere down the road possibly a 2 to 5 years from now I’m toying with the idea of going back to school and take some writing coarses.
;D

/edit
I just wanted to add and it’s line with what DA originally said and “topical” to the degree that we’re discussing why are magazines losing people, finding it hard(er) to survive and his point that perhaps the “imagery” going along with various types of articles should be as important.

The one Fly Fishing magazine I still buy is ” Fly Fusion” out of Canada.
Why?

I love their photogrpahy in large part.

[John Bennett]

Will I think you completely missed the point.

Right now articles drive the car. While I’m sure there are subtle differences market by market I’d be very surprised to discover anything different. Writers submit queries or manuscripts, that get accepted or not.

Of coarse I “separate” what I’m doing, not sure what you mean by that

My advice.
Go buy half a dozen magazines. A fly fishing mag, Maybe Outdoor Canada, field/stream…whatever. But rather study the pictures. Note how many are supplied by the writers, come from in house stock (Freelance photographers), and come from stock agencies. In the cases where the writers supply the imagery form an opinion on how good it is or isn’t  on technical merits..

Read the guidlines for submitting to Grays or Field and Stream. They run 6 months in advance.The few Im dealing currently are closer to a year in advance. Meaning they are already laying out next summer and falls issues..Images for those articles would have been shot this summer/fall.

So any problems say with some of the Upland Hunting images Ive shown here?

Lets pretend I want to submit those somewhere.
Well first off I should submit to One magazine or did you forget that?
Lets assume they (whoever they are like them).

Next up seasonal..Ok, those images are obviously taken in fall. Now maybe they are planning a pheasant hunt article next year…Is it a Fall (October) or winter (December) hunting article, not the issue they “hunt” is it hunting for Pheasant in the fall or when theres snow on the ground? If its a winter article it doesnt matter a whit, how good my images are. they wont get used. Period.

Thats assuming they are planning a Pheasant Hunting article to begin with. If not those images which theyve kept on file indefinately are to large degree in limbo due to FSNARs.

Now thats over simplfied a bit but I hope is a little clearer.

Assingments are another creature altogether.

So pay a photgrapher 500.00 to $1,000 to go on a shoot where as I noted anything from the weather to the fish or game can impact the quality of return. Meaning you get very little of what your hoping for when everyones operating on tight budgets?

Or pay a writer the same to generate the article thats missing for the images you have on hand?
*******

In one case you have a well written article you want to run next year but not the images you’d like.  You can spend hours searching your in house libraries from freelancers, conducting “Photo Calls”, paying stock agencies like Windigo, the Green Agency etc. Remember every nuance has to fit. Seasons, weather, location, even the lures/flies if thats the case..Meaning if the articles “mousing for Browns in Sept.”
Well guess what, you need Sept colours (in the fish as well), with Mice patterns (not streamers) etc. etc.etc

If all else fails you can pay a photogrpaher for an “assignment” and you payno matter what. Meaning if the articles for Musky on the Fly or a Bear hunt and the weather is crap, or the Musky Bears dont co-operate. You still dont have the images you’d really like to run with the article.

if in the end you still dont have want you really want do you settle for “less”..meaning images that might have exposure problems? Put the article on hold? Ouch…..deadlines, budgets et al…

Any idea what images cost when you have to source them? Well depending on the publication hundreds, per image, depending on size and Im not talking covers or full page. That can put a real big dent in your budget mightn’t it? Especially if you  want to run a handfull of images for the article.

On the other hand you have images that can easily be the meat of a good article, what you dont have is said article. However, currently, articles drive the car

Call me wrong but I think theres room for both……or should be

[John Bennett]

Thanks Chad.
It’s being fought, sometime you see the line, sometimes you don’t.

Steelhead often go vertical and catch alot of air when fighting

[John Bennett]

Sure, I have to say this as a photographer, but I think the pictures are as if not more important then the words.

As one Art Director and an Editor have told me.
You can have the worlds best images of XXXX, but until we have an article to which the images are suitable, they won’t get used.

This frustrates the bejeezus out of me.

The articles drive the car. I think it should be a bit of both. Speaking in broad terms. If you have great images of X on hand…why not commision an article to go with them….

The beuaty is that the article can be written anywhere/anytime, completely eliminating one of the bigger hurdles in finding the right photos.

As a simple example:
Right now if the mags that I’m dealing wth are going to run an article on Spring fishing for species ABC. That article would have been accepted months ago. In many cases the writers are supposed to send images with the article. Some do, some don’t, some do but photograhy isnt their thing and the images are shall we say less than stellar.

Then the ADs are left to try and find the images and everything about the images has t be spot on. Not only do they need to be topical they are also need to be seasonal. Meaning you cant run an article about spring fishing with Summer colours or Fall colours in the BG.

To date Ive shot 3 assignments, I have my 4th coming up.

In each case the assignments are a result (as best as Im able to determine) of having a feature article w/o the photos they’d like to have. Or its a feature article and they want the cover shot for it and dont have a suitable cover shot.

So I get the task of trying to supply the images needed/desired specific t the article and a grocery list of everything from “need” to see to wish to see. Which ca be location shots ( images of the writer doing his thing with recognisable landmarks in the back ground) to more articstic type shots and hero shots.

Problems that arise:
The article is seasonal. Meaning theres a very short window to get he images needed. The shoot is susceptible to weather and fish/game co-operation.

Meaning and I cant get too specific but this is what occured for one shoot.

1) Contact writer, discuss the article, pair that info with info (wish list) from AD.

2)Set a date/time usually a month in advance. For example the one I have coming up Ive been working on since sept.

3) Arrive at location on the agreed upon date(s). In this specific case it was 4am in some remote place in Ontario

4) Despite the time of year, it was extremly unseasonably cold. By 5am the drizzle had turned to freezing rain

5) Continue with shoot, wrap up after hours in bad weather and to add insult to injury not get a whiff of the game/fish needed for the article

Go home, process best efforts, deliver images, bank the check.

Wait 14 months (Seasonal requirements) for the article to run.

Lets reverse that.
I submit some fantastic photogrpahy tomorrow of ABC.
AD says wow these are simply stunning but we arent planning an article on A or B or C or even the “where” of ABC anytime in the next 18 months.

But: How hard would it be to generate an article on ABC?
/paraphasing te AD
I know a writer who very good at that style of fishing/hunting/region.
Can he put an article together over the next 8 months?

Doesnt matter if it rains, pours, snows 10 feet, or Hurricane IKE blows in or a forest fire rages through the area. Doesnt matter if the fish/game co-operate we alredy have them. All the time in the world to do “re-takes” and re-writes at no extra cost.At the end of the day you have one very good article, accompanid by very good imagery.

More drain on the bugets?
Yes, absolutely as you hav to pay both the photogrpaher and the writer, whereas today 90% of the time only the writer gets paid once because they are expected to send images with the article.

but on the upisde????? What kin of articles/images are you sending to press??

J

[John Bennett]

Lake Champlain DA?

Cant help much as Im Norht Shore (Canada) but I know some guys who make a trip to Lake Ontario’s South shore every year and Lake Eries as well. Also wantto say “Pulaski” as a name that rings a bell but dont quote me.

Best time of year “usually”.
Early-Mid Oct :Chinooks
Mid-Late Oct: Browns
Nov-Dec: Steel

If you came up to Ontario I could hook you up with all kinds of guides and outfitters who offer everything from walk and wade to drift to Bronze and Chrome days. (1/2 day Turkey, 1/2 Steel).

Some South shore tribs (forget names) but I know its south shore Ontario, somewhere  around Rochester gets some real Brute Browns this time of year (lats week Oct, first week Nov)

[John Bennett]

Double Dee.
Wow didnt expect to see you here, what a nice surprise 🙂

Nah, Thats the Church Street pool, just around the corner from my place. For the last month and change I keeping popping my head in on the way home after looking for Bucks trying to keep my thumb on the River Pulse. Now that I know they’re in it will be look for Whitetails at sunup for an hour then hit the river as I head back towards home.

J

[John Bennett]

I’d give my left arm for a “Mentor” with regards to Freelance Photography. Meaning finding someone who can teach me the ropes of the industry. I’ve got a handfful of writers helping me out but everything there is from a writers perspective. Theres a sublte yet profound difference.

Theres even an “outdoor writers school” that teaches alot of what Im looking for and from what I can tell many successful writers ( credits all over the place) have taken. Nothing for Freelance “photographers” though.

Theres the Outdoor Writers Association of both North America and Canada to which Im aplying and have sponsors for. But again, they are geared more towards writers and from a photographerss PoV its slightly different.

DA Id work as your assistant in a heartbeat given the chance.
***********

Can that apply to Print Media?
Dunno it is a neat concept Will. You’d need very skilled writers though as at the essence your trying to convey life experiences and give hands on expereince through the written and word and imagery.

J

[Author]

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